Tuesday, September 23, 2014

The newly reformed 1970s blockbuster lineup of Fleetwood Mac starring Christine McVie will head to the UK for shows early next summer, singer Stevie Nicks tells Uncut, and their first ever Glastonbury is not being ruled out. "Chris is excited to come back to London. It'll be soon, probably May," says Nicks, as a rejuvenated Mac prepare to head out on their first US tour with the classic Rumours lineup since October 31, 1982, when the troubled five-piece played the final show of their Mirage tour. "Glastonbury? You never know. You have to weave festivals in [to the tour]. It's being discussed."

McVie, who quite the group in 1998, joined her former bandmates onstage for an emotional encore of "Don't Stop" during their shows in London last September and became an official member again in January when the new tour, dubbed On With The Show, was announced. "The second people saw she was coming back, the tickets just sold," says Nicks, "and I tell her: 'It's a good thing you're in really great shape and you're happy about this, because it is all about you.' It's fun to see it through her eyes, her being gone for so long, because she's so excited."

With the band not getting any younger, Nicks admits McVie's return has plenty of benefits. "It's less work when it comes down to it as Lindsey [Buckingham] and I don't have to sing 50/50. Now we do a third each so it's less singing and a little less physically difficult, so that's nice. Her music is very different too, so it adds to everything."

McVie, who at 71 is the oldest member, brings eight songs to the new set including "Say You Love Me", "Little Lies" and "Everywhere", which haven't been played in concert since the Mac's one-off live special, The Dance, in '97. Christine may have been gone for 16 years but she sure didn't forget anything," says Nicks of the band's seven weeks of rehearsals which began in LA at the start of August. "I look over at her and she looks exactly the same as she did when she left. And when she counts in the songs, she goes: 'A-one, a-two, a-three' in her English accents and she sounds exactly the same! It's been a lot of fun as she has a raucously funny sense of humour that my serious singing partner and I don't have. And then the other two English people in the band pick up the gauntlet and the whole thing becomes much more easygoing."

Earlier this year Buckingham confirmed McVie had been involved in sessions in LA for a new Mac album - song titles include "Red Sun" and "Carnival Begin" - which Nicks missed partly due to solo commitments in Nashville where she recorded her latest LP, 24 Karat Gold - Songs From The Vault. "I don't know what Chris has written but she's an amazing writer and she's probably got 16 years of pent-up poetry," says Nicks.

"That's probably why she started to think: 'Why the hell am I out here in this castle, 40 miles outside of London, gardening and cooking? I'm a rock star.' So I think she just got up one day and thought: 'This is crazy - I'm going back to work.'

"I'm just glad she's back," Nicks adds. "I've missed her very much."

Fleetwood Mac's North America tour begins in Minneapolis, MN September 30th and runs through December 20th. Tickets at Ticketmaster

4 comments:

So I'm just adding my own speculation here ... if the upcoming North American leg of the OWTS tour ends in late December 2014, and they're hoping to be in Europe by sometime in May, that means the band will probably spend the first part of the year recording the next Mac album.

FLEETWOOD MAC NEWS ON FACEBOOK

In April, 2013 New York Times Author Anthony Bozza began working with legendary drummer Mick Fleetwood on his life story, which will span the entire history of the band that bears his name.

In this candid, intimate portrait of a life lived in music, Mick Fleetwood sheds new light on well-known points in his history, including many incredible moments of recording and touring with Fleetwood Mac, as well as personal insights from a man who has been a major player in blues and rock 'n' roll since his teens.

The group Fleetwood Mac has sold over 140 million records worldwide, and they continue to attract a huge following, selling out their biggest arena tour ever in 2013, decades after their debut. Finally, the group's admirers will have a unique portrait of what made Mick and the rest of the group tick in the midst of their massive success and personal trials.

STAND BACK will be available on March 29th from Rhino as an 18-track, single-CD ($14.98) collection. Accompanying versions will be released through digital download and streaming services on the same day. STAND BACK: 1981-2017, a 50-track, 3-CD version ($34.98) will then be released on April 19, followed by a 6-LP vinyl version ($109.98) on June 28.

Solo Anthology: The Best of Lindsey Buckingham is a comprehensive record of his illustrious career. Out October 5th on Rhino Records, Buckingham’s Solo Anthology will be released as a 3-disc set on CD and digitally and will also be available as a single disc abridged release. A 6-LP vinyl release is slated for November 30th.

Similar to last year's Record Store Day where Fleetwood Mac released the alternate "Mirage" album by taking the previously issued CD from the duluxe edition reissue and making it a stand alone album, Fleetwood Mac will once again bust out the alternative album cd from 2017's deluxe reissue of "Tango In The Night". For the very first time, these alternate tracks will make their way to vinyl for this years Record Store Day on April 21st. Warner Bros. will press 4,000 copies of the vinyl for the US and 8,500 in total worldwide.

“Most of these songs were written between 1969 and 1987. One was written in 1994 and one in 1995. I included them because they seemed to belong to this special group. Each song is a lifetime. Each song has a soul. Each song has a purpose. Each song is a love story… They represent my life behind the scenes, the secrets, the broken hearts, the broken hearted and the survivors. These songs are the memories - the 24 karat gold rings in the blue box. These songs are for you,” commented Nicks.

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NEW ALBUM IN THE WORKS
Christine was a guest on the Ken Bruce radio program on BBC Radio 2 and was featured each morning between Oct 7th and 11th choosing the "Tracks of My Years". Each day included a short interview clip with Christine along with her track choice and why. During the last day Christine revealed that she's currently working on new material and hopefully a forthcoming solo album saying its a return to her musical sound of the 70's.